Friday, 30 January 2015

Five Books Every Girl Should Read

Neither of us have really done a blog post about books before which is strange considering how much we read. I realised this the other day and decided that I needed to rectify this! I wanted to do a short list including not just a few of my favourite books but also books which I felt that every girl should read at some point and I wanted all the books to feature powerful and intelligent women and also to be an enjoyable read...

The House At Riverton

A must read for any Downton fans! (And if you though Downton was scandalous, prepare yourself!) The story is told through the eyes of Grace, a ninety eight year old who was once a housemaid at Riverton Manor. We know that there was a suicide in 1924 in the grounds of the manor and the book takes us back in time to solve the mystery.

I really loved this book and read most of it in an airport and on a flight back to England and for the only time in my life, I wished that the journey took longer because I didn't want to put the book down at all.

This is my all time favourite book. I first read it when I was thirteen and still I keep coming back to it again and again. The book tells the story of Cassandra and her family who live in a crumbling castle and have given up all hope of improving their lives until two American men turn up in the middle of the night.

I think that every teenage girl should read this book as it sums up exactly what goes through every girl's mind growing up and you definitely feel like you are Cassandra when you're reading it. (Also, would recommend the film version with Henry Cavill, need I say more!)

I was on the look out a few years ago for something similar to 'I Capture The Castle' and I was recommended this and immediately fell in love with it. Don't be fooled by the sweet and pretty cover, there is much more to this book than initially meets the eye. The book tells the story of Penelope, trying to find her way in 1950's England. Add in an Elvis obsessed brother, a beautiful widowed mother and a potential magician love interest. It sounds random but it really is perfect.

I hadn't heard about this author before I bought the book but as soon as I had finished it, I had to go and buy all her other books. It's mysterious and you can never be too sure of the characters intentions until the end. It's set half in London and half in a creepy manor house in Oxfordshire.

I don't want to give too much away but it's a thrilling suspense which leaves you needing a bit of a lie down at the end!

This is the only non-fiction book in my list but the stories of the Mitford's are so dramatic that it may as well be a story! The book contains letters between Nancy, Jessica, Unity, Deborah, Diana and Pamela Mitford and is both hilarious and incredibly sad. They all led varied lives, Nancy was a novelist, Deborah was a socialite and Jessica was a run away communist (each to their own!) but through their lives they all continued to write to each other with letters of support and juicy gossip!